Cable with fabric sleeve and its method of manufacture

ABSTRACT

A fabric wrapped cable is formed by positioning adhesive on opposed layers of fabric. A cable is positioned between those layers and the layers are attached by attaching the adhesive of one layer to the adhesive of the other layer. In forming the wrapped cable in such a manner, the cable is provided with at least one wing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/429,229 filed on Jun. 3, 2019, which claimed priority of from U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/681,744 filed on Jun. 7,2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a fabric enclosed cable and the method ofassembling a cable with a fabric sleeve so that the cable may be easilyinserted into a communications conduit.

BACKGROUND ART

Positioning cables in underground communication conduits which extendfor several thousand feet has long been a problem. Such is particularlytrue when it is desired to position an additional cable or cables into aconduit that already has a cable in it. That cable, particularly becauseof its plastic jacket, provides a great deal of friction to the newcable as it is being inserted into the conduit. As a result, the new orthe existing cable may be damaged due to that friction. Such isparticularly true when the cable in the conduit is ungulating whichcauses the cable being introduced to take a sinuous, fraction-ladenpath.

An extremely successful solution to this problem is a fabric innerductsold under the trademark MAXCELL® by TVC Communications, LLC and shownin U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,371 which is incorporated herein by reference forwhatever details may be necessary to understand the present invention.This innerduct is first positioned in a conduit and divides the conduitinto longitudinally extending compartments. A cable can be positioned inone of the compartments, and a pull tape or rope can be positioned inanother compartment which can later be utilized to pull a second cableinto that compartment. Because there is fabric between the cables, thefriction is not on the cable jacket but on the fabric which makesinstallation easier.

However, a problem can exist when using these innerducts in smalldiameter conduits which extend long distances. In these small conduits,the fabric innerduct takes up much of the space in the conduit and thetape or rope may tend in lock up in the innerduct thereby impeding theability to pull in a cable.

As a result, a fabric encased cable was designed as shown in U.S. Pat.No. 9,054,507 which is incorporated herein by reference for whateverdetails may be necessary to understand the present invention. While suchrepresents a vast improvement in the art, an improved cable and a simplemanner in which to attach the fabric to the cable has not yet beendeveloped.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an object of one aspect of the present invention to provide amethod of attaching a fabric to a cable.

It is an object of another aspect of the present invention to providethe attachment utilizing an adhesive.

It is an object of an additional aspect of the present invention toprovide a wrapped cable with wings extending outwardly therefrom.

These and other objects of the present invention, as well as theadvantages thereof over existing prior art forms, which will becomeapparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by theimprovements hereinafter described and claimed.

In general, a method of attaching a fabric material to a cable includesthe steps of positioning an adhesive on opposed layers of fabric,positioning a cable between the layers, and attaching the adhesive ofone layer to the adhesive of the other layer to confine the cablebetween the layers.

The wrapped cable formed by this method includes a fabric encased cablehaving at least one wing extending outwardly from the cable.

Preferred methods to make a fabric encased cable with wings are depictedin the accompanying drawings without attempting to show all the variousforms and modifications in which the invention might be embodied, theinvention being measured by the appended claims and not by the detailsof the specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a cable positioned between two layers offabric material.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view like FIG. 1 but showing the layers wrappedaround the cable.

FIG. 3 is a fragmented top plan view of that which is depicted in FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an alternative embodiment to that shown inFIG. 1, and showing a cable positioned between two layers of fabricmaterial.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view like FIG. 4 but showing the layers wrappedaround the cable.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of yet another embodiment depicting twoopposed layers of material.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing that which is shown in FIG. 6 wrappedaround a cable.

FIG. 8 is a fragmented top plan view of that which is depicted in FIG.7.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A conventional communications cable is indicated by the numeral 10 inthe drawings. Cable 10 traditionally includes core of wires covered by aplastic sheath. Such cables are usually stored on a roll, which maycarry 2500 feet or more of cable.

As shown in FIG. 1, in order to wrap a cable 10 with a pliant material,such as a fabric with a lower coefficient of friction than the sheath ofthe cable, a first sheet assembly, generally indicated by the numeral11, and a second sheet assembly, generally indicated by the numeral 12,are provided. Sheet assembly 11 extends longitudinally along the lengthof cable 10 and includes a fabric layer 13 having an adhesive layer 14attached thereto. Similarly, sheet assembly 12 extends longitudinallyalong the length of cable 10 and includes a fabric layer 15 having anadhesive layer 16 attached thereto.

In order to create the fabric wrapped cable 17 shown in FIG. 2,assemblies 11 and 12 are positioned as shown in FIG. 1 such thatadhesive layers 14 and 16 are opposed to each other with theconventional cable 10 being positioned between layers 14 and 16. Thenassemblies 11 and 12 are wrapped around cable 10 with adhesive layers 14and 16 engaging cable 10 to form wrapped cable 17. The lateral edges ofassemblies 11 and 12 form wings 18 when the lateral edges of adhesivelayers 14 and 16 engage each other. The wings 18 extend radiallyoutwardly from generally diametrically opposed sides of cable 17. Suchwings 18 tend to add strength to the cable 17, and they can be utilizedto pull the cable into a conduit. That is, a pulling device can beattached to, or otherwise grasp, the wings of a cable to insert it intoa conduit.

The wrapped cable 17 can be created by longitudinally moving cable 10together with sheet assemblies 11 and 12 and providing a foldingstation. When the cable 10 and assemblies 11 and 12 pass through thatstation, assemblies 11 and 12 are wrapped around cable 10 as previouslydescribed. Such can be accomplished at the manufacturing site of thecable, or such can be provided at the site where the wrapped cable 17 isto be installed in a conduit. In that instance, a roll of cable 10 androlls of sheet assemblies 11 and 12 can be provided and fed through adevice which will wrap cable 10 as the resultant cable 17 is beinginstalled in a conduit.

An alternative manner in which to wrap a cable 10 is shown in FIGS. 4and 5. There, a first sheet assembly 21 and a second sheet assembly 22are provided. Sheet assembly 11 includes a fabric layer 23, which can beidentical to fabric layer 13. Sheet assembly 23 also includes anadhesive layer which is formed of two small layers 24 located at thelateral peripheries of fabric layer 23. Similarly, sheet assembly 22includes a fabric layer 25 which can be identical to fabric layer 15.Sheet assembly 22 also includes an adhesive layer which is formed of twosmall layers 26 located at the lateral periphery of fabric layer 25.

In order to create the fabric wrapped cable 17 shown in FIG. 5,assemblies 21 and 22 are positioned as shown in FIG. 4, the adhesivelayers 24 and 26 being opposed to each other with cable 10 beingpositioned between sheet assemblies 21 and 22. Then assemblies 21 and 22are wrapped tightly around cable 10 and adhesive layers portions 24engage adhesive layer portions 26, as shown in FIG. 5 to form wings 28.It is also contemplated that the embodiment of FIG. 5 willsatisfactorily create a cable 17 if only one of the sheet assembles 23,25 is provided with an adhesive portion 24 or 26. Thus, the remainingadhesive portion would be attached directly to the opposed sheetassembly. In either event, the resulting plan view of FIG. 5 isidentical to FIG. 3. The resulting fabric wrapped cable 17 can bemanufactured in the same manner as described with respect to theembodiment of FIGS. 1-3.

Another cable wrapping version is shown in FIGS. 6-8. There, onecontinuous sheet of fabric material, generally indicated by the numeral30, is folded to form a first fabric layer 33 having a small adhesivelayer 34 at the end thereof, and forms a second fabric layer 35 having asmall adhesive layer 36 at the end thereof. When material 30 ismanufactured, a release sheet 37 is positioned on each adhesive layer34, 36. When it is desired to create the fabric wrapped cable 17 shownin FIG. 7, a cable 10 is positioned between layers 33 and 35 byextending it through the opening between adhesive layers 34 and 36. Thenthe release sheets 37 are removed from adhesive layers 34, 36, andlayers 33 and 35 are tightened around cable 10 to form a wrapped cable17 with the adhesive layers 34, 36 being attached to each other to forma wing 38. When the cable 10 is encased by the fabric 30, as shown inFIG. 7, the adhesive of layers 34 and 36 does not contact cable 10 suchthat the fabric 30 is not adhesively bonded to the cable.

In view of the foregoing, it should thus be evident that any of thedisclosed options for creating a wrapped cable will accomplish theobjects of the invention and otherwise substantially improve the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of inserting a cable into a conduitcomprising the steps of providing a fabric material having a coefficientof friction less than that of the cable, positioning the fabric materialaround the cable, attaching the ends of the fabric material together soas to encase the cable in the fabric material while allowing the cableto be slidable relative to the fabric material, and inserting thewrapped cable into the conduit.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein thestep of attaching includes the step of forming wings on opposed sides ofthe cable.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of positioningincludes the step of folding the fabric material around the cable. 4.The method of claim 3 wherein the step of attaching includes the step offorming a wing extending outwardly from the cable.
 5. An apparatus to beinserted into a conduit comprising a cable, opposed layers of fabricmaterial having a coefficient of friction less than that of the cable,the cable being positioned between the layers and the layers beingattached to each other but not attached to the cable.
 6. The apparatusof claim 5 further comprising at least one wing formed by the fabricwhen the layers are attached to each other.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5wherein the opposed layers of fabric material are formed by spacedsheets of material.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the opposedlayers of fabric material are formed by folding a single sheet ofmaterial.